Panel at CU-Boulder to discuss extreme weather and connections to climate change: How unusual were September’s floods?

A panel of science experts will convene at the University of Colorado Boulder on Wednesday, Sept. 25, to discuss weather and climate related to the recent devastating floods.

Panelists from several institutions will discuss the unusual weather conditions that caused the floods, the historical context and the potential influence of human-caused climate change on this extreme event. Western Water Assessment (WWA) is convening the panel and also will release a brief preliminary assessment of the severe flooding, including information on weather, water, climate and risk.

WWA is a program of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU-Boulder. CIRES is a joint institute of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and CU-Boulder.

The panel discussion begins at 11 a.m. in the CIRES auditorium, room 338 in the CIRES building, on the CU-Boulder campus and will last about 90 minutes. The event is open to the public but space is extremely limited. The event also will be available via webinar at http://cirescolorado.adobeconnect.com/flood/. Audience members should log in as a “guest” with their name or initials and can ask questions via their computers.

Jeff Lukas, senior research associate with WWA, will lead off the discussion with an overview of the weather and climate context of the flood. Other panelists will include:

Kelly Mahoney, a CIRES research scientist who works in NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory. Mahoney is an expert on Front Range thunderstorms.

Klaus Wolter, a CIRES research scientist who works in NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory. Wolter is an expert on extreme weather and seasonal weather patterns in the Front Range. He also is a Jamestown resident.

Nolan Doesken, state climatologist for Colorado at Colorado State University. Doesken has an encyclopedic knowledge of Colorado’s climate and weather history.

Marty Hoerling, research meteorologist with NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory. Hoerling is an expert on attribution of climate conditions to weather events.

The event will be available via webinar starting at 11 a.m. Sept. 25 at http://cirescolorado.adobeconnect.com/flood/. Audience members should log in as a “guest” with their name or initials and can ask questions via their computers.